M 81 / Bode Galaxy

The Bode Galaxy, (also known as M 81 or NGC 3031) is a spiral galaxy located about 12 million light-years from Earth, in the northern constellation Ursa Major. M81 is a rather bright galaxy, thanks to its proximity, and if the night is particularly suitable for astronomical observation it can also be spotted with simple binoculars; an instrument such as a 60-80 mm refracting telescope shows it as a bright spot without details, extended for a few primes and elongated in the NNW-SSE direction. A more powerful telescope, about 140-150 mm, allows you to see the structure of the nucleus, much brighter than the peripheral regions, which seem to fade gradually in the darkness of the sky floor; With instruments of 250-300 mm, the first structures of the spiral are also highlighted, in the form of variations in the brightness of the halo around the nucleus. In long-exposure or composite photos, the field of view of this and nearby M82 can be pervaded by a series of intricate nebulous filaments; This system of dark gas and dust is part of the Integrated Flux Nebulae, a high-latitude galactic cloud belonging to the Milky Way.

Its declination is very northern: in fact, this galaxy is circumpolar from most of the northern hemisphere, like all of Europe and North America, up to beyond the Tropic of Cancer; From the southern hemisphere, on the other hand, it can only be observed near the equator. The best time to observe it in the evening sky is when